Fibrous webs are well known in the art. For example, woven webs such as textile and knit fabrics are well known as material for clothing, upholstery, drapes, and the like. Also, nonwoven webs such as webs formed from polymer fibers are well known as materials useful for disposable products such as facing layers on absorbent articles such as diapers, for example.
In many applications it is desirable that fibrous webs have a bulky texture and/or softness. Also, due to cost limitations, many commercial uses for nonwovens in disposable absorbent products also demand that minimal amounts of material be used. Therefore, there is a continuing demand for technologies and materials capable of producing low basis weight, bulky and soft nonwovens. One very effective way is disclosed in commonly-owned, U.S. application Ser. Nos. 10/737,306 and 10/737,430 each of which describes nonwoven webs having tufts.
However, there is a continuing need for a low cost fibrous web having soft, bulky properties.
Additionally, there is a need for a method for relatively inexpensively making a fibrous web having soft, bulky properties.
Further, there is a need for a low cost method of making a soft, porous web of woven or nonwoven material that can be commercially used in disposable consumer products.